Guide

How to Crop a PDF

Cropping a PDF changes the visible page area so you can trim wide margins, scanner borders, headers, footers or any part of a page you do not need. This guide explains visual cropping, exact measurements and multi-page documents.

1. Crop a PDF online

The quickest method is the free browser-based tool on croppdf.co.uk. The PDF stays on your device and is processed in your browser.

  1. 1Open the PDF cropper and choose your file.
  2. 2Drag the crop frame around the area you want to keep.
  3. 3Choose which pages should use that crop.
  4. 4Fine-tune the margins in points, millimetres or inches if needed.
  5. 5Select Crop PDF and download the result.

The illuminated area stays visible. The shaded area falls outside the new page boundary.

2. Remove white margins and scanner borders

Large white margins often appear in scanned books, exported slides and documents prepared for printing. Drag each side of the frame towards the content while leaving a small safety margin so letters and page numbers are not clipped.

If every page has a similar layout, apply the same crop to all pages. For alternating book pages, use odd and even page targeting so the inner and outer margins can be adjusted separately.

3. Crop selected pages

You can apply a crop to the current page, every page, odd pages, even pages or a custom selection. Enter individual pages and ranges such as 1-3, 5, 8.

Use separate crops when a PDF contains mixed page sizes or orientations. A crop that suits an A4 portrait page may not suit a landscape insert.

4. Use exact measurements

Dragging is fastest for visual work. Exact inputs are better when a printer, application or document template requires consistent dimensions. Choose points, millimetres or inches and enter the amount to remove from the top, right, bottom and left.

PDF points are a standard page measurement. There are 72 points in one inch, and approximately 2.835 points in one millimetre.

5. What happens to cropped content?

Standard PDF cropping changes the page's visible boundary. It does not rasterise the page, so text and vector graphics inside the crop remain sharp and selectable.

Content outside the crop may still exist in the PDF and can sometimes be revealed by another PDF editor. Do not use cropping as a security or redaction tool. Remove sensitive information with a proper redaction process instead.

6. Common cropping problems

The crop cuts into text

Reset the crop and try again with a slightly larger safety margin. Check other pages before applying one crop to the whole document.

Different pages need different crops

Choose Current page only, or use selected, odd and even page modes to create separate crops for different layouts.

The file is not much smaller

That is expected. Cropping primarily changes the visible page boundary and usually does not recompress images or remove underlying content.

7. Frequently asked questions

Can I crop a PDF on a phone or tablet?

Yes. The crop frame supports touch input, and the exact margin controls are available when more precision is needed.

Can I crop a password-protected PDF?

Yes. Upload the PDF and enter its password when prompted. The password and document are processed only in your browser.

Will cropping reduce PDF quality?

The crop changes the visible page boundary without converting the kept content into an image. Text and vector graphics remain sharp.

Ready to crop your PDF?

Set the visible area and choose exactly which pages to update.

Crop PDF online